Huntington WV Death Omen

I found the following newspaper article from a July 31, 1935 edition of a local Huntington paper. It was transcribed in a local genealogical society's newspaper as is. I did a little research, and was intrigued over some additional details I found. My analysis can be found below the article.

MAN'S FACE IN PILLOW DRAWS CROWD TO EAST END RESIDENCE

Something just as strange as pink elephants, formations of human beings and animals in the clouds, and the face of the man in the moon happened yesterday at the home of Mrs. S.D. Gilfillen, 812 Twenty-eight Street.

The face of a man appeared in the pillow on the bed in Mrs. Gilfillen's room. The features of the face, the eyes, forehead, nose and mouth were outlined in the imprint which looked as if it had been made by a head resting on the pillow.

Mrs. Gilfillen said she discovered the face yesterday after she had cleaned the room and made the bed. She had straightened the pillows and smoothed them out. After this she went about her work in the kitchen as usual and when she returned to her room shortly afterward she discovered the face. Her explanation was that it was some miracle or some sign.

Crowds have viewed the face since it was discovered.

The pillow in which the face appears is made of turkey feathers, and someone suggested it might be the turkey's ghost. Another spectator inquired if someone had recently died in the bed. Mrs. Gilfillen declared absolutely no. She believes it is a sign.

Aside from finding the "poultry-geist" theory hilarious, I was able to verify that this story does come from a Huntington address and that home is still standing today. The Mrs. S.D. Gilfillen of the story is none other than Mary Ledmond Gilfillen. I also found a somewhat tragic twist to this tale. Less than a year after the face in the pillow sighting, the Gilfillen's lost their young son. On May 23, 1936 Hurbert Gilfillen, aged 21 years, decided to go swimming in the Guyandotte River, right near where Special Metals plant is located. Somehow, he was overcome, and drowned there in the river, his death being ruled accidental. Was the face in the pillow just a fluke...some trick of the eye, what we'd call simulcra or even pareidolia today? Or...was it really a sign as Mrs. Gilfillen believed...one that turned out to foretell the death of a young man way before his time?

That would have been great to have one. I don't see where it mentioned it looked like her son.

It doesn't.

She only said she thought that it was an omen at the time. When I did follow-up research, I found that the son had died 9-10 months AFTER the incident with the pillow . I theorized in my writing that this event could have fulfilled the mother's belief that it was an omen.